Rear Fog Lights

[andy-womble]

Had the mis-fortune to replace a blown brake light bulb yesterday but while the lefthand rear light cluster was off, took the opportunity for a nosey.

I know for a fact that it is only obligatory legally to have one rear fog light illuminated on the offside of the vehicle. That one is functioning ok BUT why go to the trouble of providing the cut-out in the light cluster and a bulb holder for a suitable bulb on the left-hand cluster. No bulb present so tried one and light did not illuminate on nearside. pressed for time but will investigate further and may even run a wire to the unused bulbholder....

[evdama]

Not sure, but a rule-of-thumb law would say 'if fitted, it must work'
So how far towards 'fitted' have citroen left the job?

[jericlin]

Hi :wave:

would it not be for left hand drive market as if only one rear fog light it would near to be on offside. Wiring in the dormant bulb/holder would double the load on the wiring which may not have the capacity required ?

Cheers alut:

Jericlin

[andy-womble]

Not sure, but a rule-of-thumb law would say 'if fitted, it must work'
So how far towards 'fitted' have citroen left the job?

No bulb in bulbholder, N/S Rear Fog inop. suspect bulbholder not even wired in..... easy enough to remedy but would have been a nice gesture by those kind Citroen vehicle makers to have done a proper job in the first place.....

[taxi]

Mk3 has two rear fogs

[andy-womble]

would it not be for left hand drive market as if only one rear fog light it would near to be on offside. Wiring in the dormant bulb/holder would double the load on the wiring which may not have the capacity required ?

I don't think for a minute that it is anything to do with the current carrying capacity of the cables...

My guess is that it is the manufacturer getting away with as little as possible to satisfy the demands of the current Road Traffic Act legislation in operation at the time of manufacture.

But hang on a minute, to be fair that extra wiring and a bulb are expensive :whistle::whistle::whistle:

[tanto]

Hi guys,
My Mk11, 2006 Enterprise has 2 working foglights. So it would seem that there is no overloading problem with electrics.


Dave.

[jericlin]

Hi :wave:

My previous post was done in a bit of a hurry, sorry if it was not clear.

Expanding on the first point, despite SOME only being made "live" for one side (which, being dependant on LH or RH drive ) It iprobably s actually cheaper and simpler to make the finished lamp assembly interchangeable for either choice. viz One LH production line / packaging / labeling / storage / distribution etc and One RH ditto. The alternative would be to double all that up for LH DRIVE and RH DRIVE versions.
My second point on load on wiring was not that it was necessarily a reason for Citroen not making the second light live, but on adding an extension effectively to the original wiring. However I WAS WRONGillyme: (to think the wiring is sized to carry the load ), the wiring capacity must be be capable of carrying more than the fuse protecting it. It would appear that activating the inactive lamp will not cause overload because some M59's have two working reversing lamps. I have just checked my May 2004 Multispace and both are working.
Regarding adding extra electrical load to a circuit the criteria is that if all power consuming devices are turned on, does their collective load exceed the fuse rating protecting that group of devices. eg Spotlights really should be fed via a fuse direct from Battery and controlled via a switch or relay ( or both )
Will think a bit more, before I jump in with both feet next time

cheers alut:

Jericlin

[andy-womble]

Please read my new thread about modifying wiring to N/S light cluster to allow operation of two rear fog lights.... Jobs a good un...

[tanto]

Just to add to what Jericlin says, both of the reversing lights on my van also work( M59).
Dave.